[Mistakes] Five Common Mistakes Bloggers Make With Ideas … and How to Fix Them

Ideas lie at the heart of everything you do with your blog and your business.

However much of an expert you are at writing, marketing and technology, you won’t get far unless you have some good ideas.

Sometimes, bloggers think that “ideas” just means coming up with ideas for individual posts. Of course that’s important – but your ideas will also include potential ebooks, ecourses, or other digital products, plus ideas within posts (particularly list posts).

Here are some common mistakes bloggers make, and how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Only Coming Up With Ideas When They NEED To

I understand this temptation (and I have to confess that I’ve found myself in this position quite a few times during my blogging career…)

If you wait until it’s blog posting day to come up with an idea, you’ll always find yourself struggling to get started. You may also end up writing about the first thing that comes into your head – regardless of whether it’s a particularly good topic for a blog post.

Fix it: Today or tomorrow, set aside ten minutes to come up with (at least) ten ideas for your blog. Also, write ideas down whenever they come to you – don’t rely on your memory!

Mistake #2: Hoarding Their Best Ideas

This is another easy trap to fall into: “saving” that really good idea until you’re a better writer, or until you have more traffic, or until you’ve got the time to do it justice.

While the time won’t always be right for every idea you come up with, if you’ve been sitting on a brilliant idea for months, get moving! You might be worried that you won’t come up with any ideas as good in the future … but you’ll almost certainly find that you think of even better ones.

Fix it: Have you got a really good idea for a post or product (or even a whole blog) that you’ve not used yet? Find a time in the next month when you’ll get started, and mark it on your calendar.

Mistake #3: Not Using Reader Feedback to Decide Between Ideas

Have you ever come up with a great idea for a post that you know your readers need, only to write it and find that it got a lacklustre response?

I’ve done that not only with posts but with whole ebooks – and it’s a massive and costly mistake. However much you love your idea, and however much you think readers need it, you need to find out what they want you to produce.

Fix it: Run a survey to ask readers to choose between several options whenever you’re considering investing a lot of time or money in creating an in-depth post or digital product.

Mistake #4: Only Thinking of the Exact Right Number of Ideas

Let’s say you’re writing a list post and you want ten items – perhaps “Ten Beginner-Friendly Tips” on your topic. You sit at your computer and write down the first ten tips that come into your mind.

While this isn’t a huge problem, it can prevent your post from being as good as it could be. The first ideas that come to you often aren’t the best – and by coming up with a couple of spare ideas, you can cut out the weakest ones.

Fix it: Always aim to come up with 2 – 3 more ideas than you need. Then go through your list and cut out any that are weak. (Sometimes you can merge two weak ideas together to create a stronger one.)

Mistake #5: Trying too Hard to Create Unique Ideas

While you don’t want your blog to feel like a regurgitated version of every other blog out there, you don’t have to worry about every single idea being totally original.

The truth is that most ideas have been done before, in some shape or form. What’s unique is the way you treat the idea, your writing voice, and any extras you can add.

Fix it: Look at popular posts on major blogs in your niche for inspiration. How could you write a post on the same topic that takes it on from a different angle, goes further, or provides more value for readers?

Do you struggle to come up with ideas, or do you find that you have more than you can handle? Let us know in the comments…